Poll: Coastal Residents Won't Evacuate

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Poll: Coastal Residents Won't Evacuate
By JESSICA GRESKO
Associated Press Writer

Posted: Today at 7:55 a.m.

MIAMI — About one in three people living in Southern coastal areas said they would ignore hurricane evacuation orders if a storm threatened their community, up from about one in four last year, a poll released Tuesday shows.

The survey found the most common reasons for not evacuating were the same ones that topped last year's Harvard University poll: People believe that their homes are safe and well-built, that roads would be too crowded and that fleeing would be dangerous. Slightly more than one in four also said they would be reluctant to leave behind a pet.

Robert Blendon, the Harvard professor who directed the survey, said the mild 2006 Atlantic hurricane season probably put more coastal residents at ease.

"It just shows how people can become complacent if they're not immediately threatened," Blendon said.

Residents were asked how worried they are about hurricanes, what supplies they have in their homes, how confident they are about being rescued and how else they had prepared for possible storms. The poll found 78 percent felt prepared if a major hurricane struck their community in the next six months.

Thirty-one percent of respondents said they would not evacuate. Another 5 percent said their decision would depend on the circumstances.

The telephone poll surveyed more than 5,000 people 18 or older in coastal areas of eight Southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Texas. All participants lived within 20 miles of the coast.

This year's survey differed from last year's by including more respondents and restricting the survey area to within 20 miles of the coast instead of 50 miles. Researchers went back to the 2006 data and separated respondents who lived less than 20 miles from the coast for comparison. Last year, 23 percent of those respondents said they would not evacuate.

The survey also looked specifically at about 500 residents of the New Orleans area, which was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The survey found that six in 10 people in that area did not know the location of an evacuation shelter, compared with four in 10 elsewhere.

New Orleans respondents also were less confident they would be rescued if necessary - 54 percent as opposed to 69 percent elsewhere.

Harvard School of Public Health researchers designed the study, which was funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It was conducted between June 18 and July 10 by International Communications Research of Media, Pennsylvania, and had a sampling error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.

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[url=http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/1626738/]The survey found the most common reasons for not evacuating were the same ones that topped last year's Harvard University poll: People believe that their homes are safe and well-built, that roads would be too crowded and that fleeing would be dangerous. Slightly more than one in four also said they would be reluctant to leave behind a pet.

After more people died from the evacuation of Rita than from the storm itself, can you blame people for worrying that "fleeing would be dangerous"? Many more had serious heat related health problems as a result too and nursing homes reported that they had a much higher than normal incidense of residents dying in the month following the evacuation. Evacuation times of more than 30 hours in record breaking heat were common. It took me 12 hours just to go 18 miles on the Beltway in Houston. That doesn't mean you shouldn't evacuate; it just means that you should also consider the dangers of evacuating too. Many of those who were evacuating from Houston were people who didn't really need to, those who were neither in a surge zone or living in substandard housing. If you find yourself in a massive traffic jam, you need to find another escape route. Have good maps of the back roads and city streets. I will never take the Beltway evacuating again or any of the other freeways or highways that became a parking lot in 2005.

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Until this evening I was in no way going to ever stay for a storm. Since then I am confused about whether I should leave or stay. Our section of Southeast Louisiana seems to have changed the rules on us. Orleans Parish and ALL the surrounding parishes (6 Parish area: Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, Jefferson, St. Tammany and St. Charles)are working in cooperation. We now can not return to our homes until they say we can regardless of whether we have flooded or not or regardless of the situation. Only very essential people can return and they are not allowed to bring any family members with them. The power of the individual city to issue passes has been taken away and you now fall under the authority of your parish and you must be issued a uniformed 6 parish plaquard to return. These plaquards are only given to essential personel and all others are shut out. If it takes a month for them to allow us back in then so be it. One example given on criteria to let us back is sewerage. If toilets are unable to be flushed we can't come back. Furthermore, if any of us stay, we must stay in our homes like a prisoner and cannot leave it. Those caught on the streets, regardless of the parish you live in, will be arrested.
If I have to stay away for a month, my damage to my home can go from very simple to repair to outrageous amounts to repair. I am not even in a flood prone area as I am 11.8 feet above sea level.

Louisiana residents in the greater New Orleans area need to check out their local parish web sites. There is detailed information regarding our plans for a Hurricane and our inability to return.
Also, Monday August 6th at 6:30PM, Cox Channel 10 in the greater New Olreans area, is re-airing the show "Hurricane Preparedenss". It is worth watching as it explains some of the new rules in place.